INTRODUCTION

Do you often find yourself feeling like you’re “running on empty” in the middle of the afternoon, desperate for a snack to help you keep going? While a slice of cake or chocolate candy bar might seem like an obvious choice for a quick boost, they will soon make your energy levels plummet and can leave you feeling even more exhausted than before.

To fuel our bodies effectively—without the roller coaster of highs and lows—we need good-quality protein, healthy fats, some carbohydrates, and plenty of vegetables. Choosing snacks that are nutrient-dense, rich in superfoods, and made with smart, complex carbs will mean you are able to stay full for longer. Whole grains, nuts, seeds, meat, fruit, and vegetables all form a good foundation for healthy snacks, and you don’t even need to give up the chocolate completely—just be sure to choose dark chocolate, preferably with a minimum of 70 percent cocoa solids, instead of sugar-laden milk chocolate.

Obesity levels are steadily rising and the main culprit is the amount of sugar and processed ingredients in our diet. While we might all love a drive-through snack of hamburger and fries or a sugary donut, they are full of empty calories, saturated fats, and highly processed sugars and salt, all of which offer little to no nutritional value.

Have you ever looked at the ingredients list on the packaging of your favorite store-bought snack? In addition to the main ingredient, a host of sweeteners, flavorings, and additives often follow, with ingredients you have probably never heard of included to prolong the shelf life. These chemical bad boys are quickly forgotten when we’re reaching for a cookie at 3:30 p.m., but you can avoid them completely by preparing your own nutritious and sustainable power snacks.

Made with simple, readily available ingredients, homemade power snacks can be prepared with minimal fuss and expense. Source raw ingredients from your local farmers’ market, supermarket, and health-food store to create delicious snacks packed with essential vitamins, minerals, protein, and good fats.

Complex carbs are great for filling a hole between meals—they take longer for the body to digest and help stabilize blood sugar to keep you on an even keel throughout the day without the crashes and cravings.

Choose from rolled oats, popcorn, quinoa, whole-grain rice, sweet potato, or pumpkin. The other essential ingredient in feeling full is protein, but you don’t need to eat a large steak to get it. Nuts and seeds are great protein sources, too, and are easy to transport and graze on when out and about.

When it comes to fat, it’s important to make the distinction between the harmful trans fats found in fried, fast, and processed food and natural and intensely healthy fats. Not only are these good for you, but you cannot survive without them, because they contain essential fatty acids that aid the absorption of important fat-soluble vitamins, such as A, D, E, and K. These fats can be found in certain ingredients, such as whole milk and cheese, butter, oily fish, olive oil, and nuts and seeds. They might register high on a calorie count, but they are healthy fats and this is the important part. Focusing more on the nutritional profile of foods instead of their caloric status allows us to eat the whole and natural ingredients our bodies need for optimum health.

We should all be eating a minimum of five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, but some statistics suggest that not enough of us are reaching this target. Sneaking them into snacks is a great way to be sure you’re getting the recommended amount of these essential foods. And you don’t need to rely on a simple apple or carrot stick to meet your quota—by using fruit and vegetables as the foundation of your power snacks, you can make sure you get a good dose throughout the day.

In this book, you will find a wide range of fresh, natural, and superhealthy snacks to choose from. An “On the Go” chapter contains delicious snacks to carry with you while you’re out and about, meaning you’ll be less tempted by fast-food alternatives. A whole chapter on “Take to Work” snacks has the office covered as well, with a variety of sweet and not-so-sweet bites to have on hand when the 3:30 p.m. sugar dip hits. “High Energy” includes high-protein, energy-spiking suggestions for snacks, ideal for pre- and post-workouts. Designed for days when you have a little more time to prepare, the “Weekend Snacks” chapter includes mouth-watering snacks to be enjoyed at leisure, while the “Sweet Indulgence” chapter offers a go-to collection of recipes for any sugary taste or craving.

Designed to change the way you snack and fuel your body for long-term health and vitality, these power-packed snacks will leave you feeling full, satisfied, and, above all, well nourished.